Bully Meets Egg
by DarkFlame55
Summary: (First fanfic! This story features the seven Koopalings.) Roy gets grounded for "forgetfulness", and he finds a certain object that leads to his escape! Updates EVERY DAY! READ & REVIEW please. Chapter NINE is up: Roy's secret gets revealed!
1. Grounded and Miserable

Welcome to my first fanfic in case you haven't noticed, all of my stories will feature the seven Koopalings: Lemmy, Iggy, Larry, Morton, Wendy, Roy and Ludwig. Please not that my chapterswill be fairly short.I don't want to spoil any more, so just read on!

It was a mild, summer evening in the castle. Windows and turrets reflected light from the sun, and trees swayed in the breeze. It was such a breezy, enjoyable day that nobody would've suspected the mayhem that was happening inside the large fortress.

"_How can you forget?_" shouted an incredibly fearsome voice belonging to none other than Bowser, the King of Koopas. The large throne rooms spawned above eight turtle-like figures. All of them stood standing near a window.

"Dad, I'm sorry, it slipped my mind!" said one of the eight turtles, making excuses. "Look, I'll go tomorrow if you want!"

"_I constantly keep reminding you, Roy! You were supposed to go fight those dimwitted Mario Bros. today! I KEEP REMINDING YOU!_"blasted Bowser, loudly enough to make Iggy flinch.

"I had to go to—"

"_How many times? THERE'S NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN TRYING TO KILL THOSE STUPID, ANNOYING, PERSISTENT PLUMBERS!_"

"Uh, dad?" interrupted the only girl out of the eight turtles.

"What, Wendy?" Bowser snapped.

"Roy had a boxing tournament yesterday. He couldn't make it," Wendy explained.

"Exactly!" Roy chimed in. "I even told you it beforehand."

"_I don't care! You're off to the dungeons for a week!_" Bowser hissed in anger. Apparently, this excuse had meant nothing to him.

"Dad, that's unfair—"

"_GO!_"

Hopelessly, Roy offered a disgusted grunt and walked away from his brothers, sister and dad. They looked at him expressionlessly. Although Roy enjoyed beating some of them up, (Iggy, for the most part) the other Koopalings still felt sorry for him. The dungeons were terrible, and they had not managed to find an escape route thus far (although Ludwig had tried to blast up a part of it, but the dungeons were too sturdy).

Roy continued to follow the staircases downward. Every step closer to the dungeons, it smelled worse and looked gloomier. Finally, stepping down the final step into the murky chambers, Roy looked around. He was going to be stuck in this horrible place for a whole week.

Dust had built along the wall. Cobwebs littered corners. Cracked floors and scratched walls resembled the horrid, broken ceiling. Roy entered a cage, sat himself inside, and sighed. The cage doors closed automatically, so there was no way out. Roy began to do something he only did when there was nothing else to do: think.

I can't believe it. I'm stuck in here for a whole week. That's six days! No, wait, seven. Or was it eight? Never mind. I can't believe I can't beat Iggy up! Well, and also Morton... and everyone else, too.

Roy looked around him as if something was going to suddenly cheer him up, but nothing did. Suddenly, Roy remembered something that almost made him jump up.

I can't believe it! I forgot that I was supposed to help Ludwig work on some invention or whatever!

Normally, Roy couldn't care less about Ludwig's stupid ploys and inventions, but this time, it was altogether different.

Ludwig was going to test me. I had to punch this target a lot, and it'd show how much power I have. Then, he was going to zap me with some shiny thing, and my strength would increase tenfold! It was a proto-tip, of course, but it sure sounded cool. This would mean that I could defeat the Mario Bros. with the single flick of one of my claws.

Roy reconsidered.

_Well, not exactly. But I would be MUCH, MUCH stronger. Ludwig asked me to be at his lab at exactly 5:35 in the afternoon tomorrow, but since I'm grounded now, I can't really go there. _

The turtle with red shades looked down at the floor in desperation.

Something caught his eye. It was in a dark corner, and it was almost unnoticeable, but he had spotted a strange oval-like object. If Roy had not been so interested in this new item, he would've praised himself for noticing something so subtle.

Roy zoomed in to the dark corner. Did he dare touch whatever this was?

He felt his arms slowly move closer and closer, and... he felt it. It was hard and had a smooth texture. Deciding it wasn't anything to panic about, Roy lifted it up. Excitement was flooding into him like a hurricane could have been flooding a seaside harbor. He held it up to the locked window, and saw an ... egg.

Roy was excited and disappointed at the same time. He was expecting something to bail him out of here. However, this egg was a completely amazing discovery. He knew that Ludwig would definitely approve of studying this not-yet-hatched specimen, and perhaps Iggy would barter a beating for this egg (a smile curled Roy's lip).

If Roy wasn't satisfied with this egg, he definitely jumped when he saw a bit of sunlight come up from the corner he found the egg. There was a small hole in that corner, and it seemed to lead outside!

Hope flooded Roy almost as quickly as excitement had a few seconds ago. He crept to the corner, clutching the egg, and crouched down. He touched the corner, and it began to crumble. Soon, a bigger hole was formed.

_Yes! YES! _Roy felt more encouraged by this than he had with almost anything else in his life, besides maybe the time he got accepted into Boxing School. He continued to break away the corner, until he couldn't crumble it any more. It was very tight, but maybe, just _maybe, _Roy could fit through. He crawled closer and closer, egg still in his arms, and made his way through the hole. The evening sun rained over his head and Roy smirked triumphantly, when, something awful happened.

He got stuck in the hole.

How was that? Review, review, review! Chapter 2 will be coming up soon.


	2. Ludwig's Scheme

I have returned! Fwee! By the way, in Chapter One, when I wrote "proto-tip", I knew it was "prototype", I just made Roy say it incorrectly because, you know, he's not the brightest bulb in the tool shed. Anyway, here's Chapter Two.

Roy grumbled. He jerked, but he only got even more stuck. He waited, but nobody came by. His siblings were probably having fun, doing whatever they wanted.

_Hmph. Chumps. Can't wait to beat on them again._

Although they seemed to be his only hope at this point, Roy couldn't help but get angry with them for taking so long to get here. Finally, he heard footsteps. He hoped it would be Morton, or Ludwig, or even Lemmy.

As the footsteps got closer, Roy's eyes zoomed in again. He noticed... Iggy.

"Yo, Iggnoramous!" Roy barked. He saw Iggy turn around, confused.

"Roy? Where are you?" Iggy shouted out in the opposite direction. Roy's temper rose.

"Over here, you imbecile!" Roy shouted at him. Iggy discovered Roy halfway through the hole, and then began to panic.

"Roy! What are you doing there?" Iggy squealed.

"I nearly escaped from the dungeons, but I got stuck in this hole," Roy explained. "Could you get me out?"

At first, Iggy was more than happy to get Roy out, but then he smiled mischievously.

"Uh, Iggy?" Roy said. "Why are you smirking?"

"I'll get you out..." Iggy began. "On one condition."

"_Oh, come on!_" Roy shouted.

"Keep it down!" Iggy hushed. "Bowser's right across the garden. He might hear you."

"So what's the condition?" said Roy a bit more quietly, although he was frustrated.

"You won't pound on me," Iggy said smugly. Roy's mouth fell open.

"Are you _kidding me?_" Roy burst out, although he was whispering. "I love to pound on you! It's all I do! It's one of my main hobbies!"

"Well, I guess you can get stuck there for the rest of the week," Iggy bribed.

Roy was fuming.

"_Fine!_" he hissed.

"Actually, I'd like to add another condition," Iggy decided.

Roy restrained himself from shouting at the top of his lungs.

"_WHAT?_" he whispered very, very loudly.

"You'll be nice to me and the others for a whole week," Iggy told him.

"Fine, whatever!" Roy murmured furiously. "Now can you get me out of here?"

"All right."

Iggy walked over to Roy, grabbed his arms, and began to pull with all his strength. Unfortunately, Iggy isn't (and never was) considered very powerful, and this was no exception. He managed to move Roy a little more, but he couldn't quite get him out. Within little time, Iggy was rubbing his arms.

"Ouch!" Iggy whispered in pain as he massaged his arms. "I can't get you out of there."

"No duh," Roy mocked.

"Maybe Ludwig can help?" Iggy said thoughtfully.

"Good idea," Roy remarked. "Go get him."

Iggy ran off into the distance, his footsteps soon disappearing. Roy waited. A few minutes later, the rainbow-haired turtle made his way back to Roy, accompanied by a Koopa with wacky, blue hair.

"Roy!" Ludwig said, astounded. "You managed to find a way out of the dungeons! I spent weeks trying to counterbalance the chemicals in the wall with my explosives—"

"Will you just get me out?" Roy complained, running out of patience.

"Yes, right," muttered Ludwig. He pulled out a tiny bomb, no bigger than the A Button on a Nintendo Game Cube, lit it with a candle and placed it next to Roy. It began ticking down.

"_WHAT ARE YOU DOING?_" Roy shouted, unable to keep whispering. "_THAT BOMB IS GOING TO BLOW UP ALL OVER ME!_"

"Roy, shut _up_!" Iggy silenced.

"Ah, don't worry about that," Ludwig reassured him. "I programmed this bomb so it would be impervious to turtles and it wouldn't make any noise."

"Yeah, well, it better not mess everything up," Roy warned. Within a few seconds, the bomb blasted the wall. What was interesting was that (a), Roy wasn't hurt by it, and (b), it made absolutely no sound. Roy got out of the wall and brushed himself.

"Wow, Kooky," Roy remarked, looking impressed. "I'd say that was one of your better inventions."

"Don't call me Kooky!" Ludwig said angrily. "I resent it!"

"GUYS! King Dad's coming!" Iggy yelped frantically. "Roy, get back in the dungeons! We'll be hiding in that bush!"

Roy obeyed and reentered the chamber; Iggy and Ludwig dived into a nearby shrub. Bowser swept past the big hole in the wall. He had his mind on something else, so he didn't notice it. Once Bowser was back in the castle, Iggy and Ludwig came out of the bush and Roy went back outside.

"That was close," Iggy sighed.

"This is urgent!" Ludwig cried. "If King Dad glimpses you ambling around, you're going to be in a gargantuan dilemma!"

"In English?" Roy scoffed.

"That _was _English," Ludwig pointed out. "But what I meant is that if King Dad notices you, you're busted!"

"What are you going to do?" Iggy questioned.

"I don't know," Roy said anxiously. "You guys are the smart ones!"

"I've got it!" Ludwig exclaimed. "You may hide out in my room! That way, King Dad will never find out that you were never in the dungeons because I'll keep you inside."

"But isn't King Dad going to go to the dungeons to check on him?" Iggy asked. "He's going to notice that Roy isn't there."

"Good point, Iggy! Luckily, I have it all worked out," Ludwig advised him. "I shall use my hologram projector to create a copy of Roy and put it in the dungeon. It'll act like Roy, talk like Roy, even eat like Roy. King Dad will never tell the difference."

"And how am I going to eat?" Roy asked the child prodigy of a turtle. "Am I just going to starve?"

"Nonsense," Ludwig said. "I'll sneak some food up to my room so you can eat it."

"But wait!" Iggy chimed in. "How long will he have to stay in his room? I mean, if he stays for too long, he may get out of shape!"

Roy suddenly seemed alarmed.

"That's right!" he said loudly. "I might not be strong enough to continue boxing!"

"Roy, Roy, Roy," Ludwig sighed. "Didn't you remember? You're going to get powered up by my new machine, the Energy-Giving Gear, or E.G.G for short! I told you yesterday."

Roy nodded; he sure did want to get his power increased tenfold.

"I remember the name by saying the word _egg_. It's very simple!" Ludwig told him.

"Egg..." Roy said aloud. "Egg! I left an egg in the dungeons!" He remembered the egg that he had before he had gotten stuck in the hole.

"Egg?" Ludwig asked, confused.

"What egg?" Iggy inquired him.

"I'll show you." Roy scurried back inside, clutched his egg, ran back outside, and presented it to his two brothers. Ludwig and Iggy were completely shocked.

"Amazing!" Ludwig finally said, dumbfounded. "I've never seen this kind of egg before! Unbelievable!"

"I wonder what it'll hatch into?" Iggy asked the others curiously.

"Let's get back up to my room, but be _very _careful, because we don't want to get caught," Ludwig explained to the others. Roy, clutching the egg, followed the other two into the castle. He hid close behind them so nobody would notice.

Finally, they reached Ludwig's room. It looked a lot more like an inventive lab than a bedroom, but it had a bed nevertheless.

"I can't wait to study this fine specimen!" Ludwig cheered, and he placed the egg under a microscope. "Iggy, Roy, you guys can sit on my bed for now. I'll zap you with my E.G.G. in just a minute, Roy."

Roy took a seat next to Iggy on the organized, white bed. He looked at Ludwig's machines curiously, wanting to know what happens next...

Thanks for reading! Expect Chapter Three up soon!


	3. A Blast of Power

Here is Chapter Three, coming your way. Oh, and reviewers, thanks a bunch; I forgot to mention that I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY like it when people review my stuff, whether they put a complaint or a compliment. I love criticism! **erm **Excuse me. Read on!

Ludwig observed the egg through the microscope, wrote down what he discovered, and then continued staring it. This process went on for a long time until Roy finally got sick of it.

"How much longer?" Roy called out impatiently.

"Huh?" Ludwig had a distant look on his face. "Oh, right! Sorry, I must have gotten too into my work."

"Tell me about it," Iggy muttered.

"Anyway," Ludwig began. "I'm not very sure what's inside this egg. By the looks of it, it seems to come from Koopa descent, so chances are, there may be another Koopa Troopa inside this egg. But then again, there may not be. In fact, this egg is very curious. Very curious indeed. I have never seen such an egg as this one—"

"All right, we heard enough! Who are you, Morton?" Roy snarled. Ludwig glared at him, but merely shook his head.

"Oh, Roy?" Iggy chimed in.

"What, punk?" Roy snapped obnoxiously.

"I thought we had a deal," Iggy told him disapprovingly. When Roy seemed puzzled, he added, "Remember? I told you that I would rescue you IF you were nice to us for this week."

Roy acted a fool.

"Maybe," he muttered.

"Well, I did!" Iggy said sternly. "And you have to be nice to us."

"Whatever," Roy said, waving his hand in the air as if to shoo away a fly. Iggy gave him a dirty look, and was about to open his mouth, but Ludwig talked first.

"Alright," Ludwig said to them. "I'm all finished studying the egg. I estimate that it will be about one to two months before this egg hatches. I'll keep it here in my lab, watching over it in case something happens."

Iggy and Roy nodded in agreement.

"Okay, so," Ludwig addressed Roy. "Are you ready to undertake a blast of power from the E.G.G?"

_Finally! It's about time, _Roy thought.

"I'm ready," Roy answered.

"Come here," Ludwig said as he walked onto a pedestal next to a strange, circular machine. The machine looked like Professor E. Gadd had crafted it; it was truly spectacular. "You're going to walk inside this spot," Ludwig pointed to a spot on the pedestal with an X on it, "and I'll fire the beam. Be aware that this is only a prototype, thus must be taken with extreme caution. I don't know what the results will be if there is a malfunction."

"I'll take the risk," Roy responded confidently. He stepped on the designated X and looked up at Ludwig expectantly.

Ludwig began to count down. "Firing beam in three ... two..."

"_LUDWIG!_" came a girly scream from downstairs. It was Wendy. "_GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!_"

Ludwig groaned and rolled his eyes. "Sorry, Roy, but I'll have to do it a little later on."

Roy's face went red with anger as Ludwig ran out of the room with his blue hair bouncing behind him.

"_ARGH!_" Roy growled. He wasn't sure whether to be mad at Wendy or Ludwig. "I was this close to getting my strength boosted!"

"It's okay, Roy," Iggy said kindly. "Ludwig will get to it eventually."

"I guess you're right," Roy sighed. He sat down on the bed.

"I am?" Iggy asked. Normally, Roy would have made some irritable remark or comment. "Uh, is there something wrong, Roy?"

"No," Roy answered gloomily. Iggy eyed him strangely.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Iggy gently added. Roy suddenly seemed to straighten back up.

"Of course I don't, knucklehead! Why I would I tell you anything?" Roy snapped.

Iggy was now completely baffled. Talk about a mood swing.

"Uh, whatever," Iggy remarked, still a bit alienated. Finally, after a few more minutes' worth of waiting, Ludwig returned from downstairs.

"Pardon me," he said to them. "Wendy had a bit of anaccident."

"What happened?" Iggy shot up immediately.

"Mind your own business, Iggy," Roy snapped at him. Iggy merely glared at him, but said nothing. Why were they bothering helping Roy out, anyway?

"Okay, back to business," Ludwig said composedly. Roy got back into position, and Ludwig started up the machine.

"Three... two... one... ignition!" Ludwig shouted. Suddenly, the machine began to vibrate tremendously. The floor shook violently, and Roy almost lost his balance.

"_Earthquake!_" shouted someone from downstairs. The three Koopalings were frantic; everything was falling apart.

"_AARGHH!_" screamed Iggy and Roy in unison.

"_What's happening?_" Ludwig bellowed as the floor rumbled with tremendous force. Objects fell onto the floor. The wallpaper began to tear.

Finally, in the speed of light, a narrow blue beam shot up from the tip of the machine, ricocheted against Roy's sunglasses, rebounded off of Iggy's glasses, and blasted on the mysterious egg, lying in a corner.

Within seconds, the beam stopped traveling, the floor stopped quaking, and the machine slowed down to a stop.

The three of them stood in complete silence. Ludwig's room (or, better put, what was _left _of Ludwig's room) was a disaster. There was a huge mess of metal and glass on the floor, and the wallpaper and flooring had ripped in several places. Finally, Ludwig broke the silence.

"There seems to have been a miscalculation," Ludwig pointed out sadly.

"You think?" Roy snarled sarcastically.

"What happened?" Iggy shouted hysterically, not knowing what had just occurred.

"I'll explain," Ludwig began, taking a seat. "I began firing up the machine, when a malfunction caused the power level to increase to dynamic proportions. I tried to stop it, but it was futile. The machine unleashed all of its power on Roy, but it seems that when the machine shook, it threw Roy off balance. Unfortunately, the machine ended up ricocheting against Roy's sunglasses and Iggy's glasses. In the end, it hit that unsuspecting egg in the corner. Now that egg's power is increased to _one thousand times _its original strength!"

Iggy's mouth flew open. So did Roy's.

"Talk about a coincidence!" Iggy shrieked.

"Regrettably, my machine overloaded. It's no longer functional, and it will take a long time to fix," Ludwig said lamentably.

"Just how long will it take?" Roy asked.

"About six months," Ludwig estimated.

"_GRRAH!_" Roy roared. "_How much worse can things get? First I get grounded, and now this!_"

"Not only that," Ludwig added, "but the egg seems to have taken in quite a bit of power. In fact, it'll be enough to completely annihilate the whole castle with the simple push of a finger! It depends on how strong the object inside the egg is, however."

"So what you're sayin' is that the egg will have more power than anyone in this castle?" Roy said incredulously.

"It may be much more than just that," Ludwig said ominously. "It may be stronger than anything in the whole world."

"_It will be stronger than **anything in the whole world?**_" Iggy repeated what Ludwig said with emphasis. "Holy cow!"

"Holy cow is right," Ludwig concurred. He couldn't say anything else, though, because four other Koopalings had suddenly burst into Ludwig's room.

Lemmy's wild rainbow hair loomed over his head as he spoke.

"What happened?" Lemmy said very loudly.

"Yeah, what was that rumbling?" Larry asked them in a frightened tone.

"It made me break a nail!" Wendy shrieked; she had been paying attention to a disgruntled nail ever since she had walked up to this room.

If Lemmy, Larry and Wendy were anxious, Morton was completely petrified.

"That was so scary, frightening, freaky, spooky and scary!" Morton babbled. Before anyone could point out that he had used the word 'scary' twice, he continued talking. "I was completely nervous for our lives, I mean, I heard that rumbling come from upstairs and I thought the sky was falling though basically it couldn't because we are indoors but that does not matter what does matter is that you guys are safe and luckily, you guys are! And that makes me feel so good because I really wouldn't like it if you guys were hurt because that would be terrible, horrible, awful, horrid—"

"_Can it, Morton!_" Roy silenced. Morton began to shut up, but his mouth continued to talk, almost instantly.

"Roy! What are you doing here? I can't believe you are here I thought you were grounded ooh when King Dad finds out you're here you are going to be in so much trouble but I won't tell, nope I'm a good Morton I just can't really believe you've escaped from the dungeons and anyway how did you get here? It's impossible nobody has ever gotten away from the dungeons not even me or Ludwig or Larry or Lemmy or Wendy or Iggy or—"

Morton had stopped talking immediately, as Roy had bashed him across the face so hard that he stumbled backwards and collapsed on the floor. Immediately, the area where he had been hit shined bright red.

"_YOUCH! _What was that for?" Morton yelped, rubbing his face sadly. His right eye began to water from the pain.

"Roy, that was uncalled for!" Iggy interjected.

"What are _you _gonna do about it, punk?" Roy snapped back.

"I can't believe you're so stupid so as to completely forget the deal we had, even after I reminded you _twice_! You stupid imbecile" Iggy burst out. The whole room instantly went quiet. Roy looked as if he had been smacked in the face. He lifted his fists up to punch Iggy's lights out, but put them down, recognizing the consequences. Instead, he decided to shout at him.

"Well, that's too bad!" Roy growled back.

"_Fine then!_" Iggy growled, even louder. Lemmy looked at Iggy as if he were an alien.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with my brother?" he asked Iggy lightheartedly. Iggy looked at him, apparently not up for jokes, and stormed out of the room.

"He's lost it," Wendy finally said after a whole minute.

"I'm going to _beat him up so bad!_" Roy hissed. Apparently, Wendy seemed to have taken Iggy's side on the situation.

"We all think Morton's a total nut—"

"Hey!" Morton cried.

"—But there was no reason that you should have hit him!" Wendy screamed. "You go apologize to him, right _now_!"

"Go and make me!" Roy growled stubbornly.

"I think I can," Wendy suddenly said, and Roy winced ever so slightly.

"You can?" he shot back. "How?"

"Well..." Wendy fidgeted with her bow evilly. "I can tell dad that you escaped from the dungeons."

For the second time in a few minutes, Roy looked as if he had been slapped in the face. This time, however, he had no witty comeback.

"_YOU WOULDN'T!_" he roared, loudly enough for the X-Naut Fortress to hear.

"Watch me," Wendy said smugly. Roy looked defeated. As stubborn as he was, he didn't want to think of the consequences of what would happen if his father found out about his escaping from the dungeons. It was like getting out of prison.

"FINE!" Roy snarled. He walked to Morton, muttered a hardly audible "sorry", and stomped out of the room.

"Get back here!" Ludwig yelled. "You forgot, you're supposed to be hiding in my room."

Roy, just as huffily as he left, reentered the room, pushed Larry and Lemmy off of Ludwig's bed, and planted himself on top of it, crossing his arms angrily.

An eerie silence filled the room. Slowly, one by one, Lemmy, Larry, Wendy and Morton left the room, leaving Ludwig and Roy alone.

"You know, sometimes I seriously don't know why you act like that," Ludwig said to him. Roy gave Ludwig a dirty face, cursed under his breath, and continued to stare down at the floor in frustration.

The moon had already come up. Ludwig went downstairs to dinner, along with the rest of the Koopalings. Roy stayed sitting on the bed huffily, thinking about nothing. He was furious with Wendy, Iggy, Morton, the whole lot of them. This anger had made him tired, though. He dozed off on Ludwig's bed.

A creepy green aura filled the room. The egg, forgotten in the corner, was beginning to absorb the power it had gained. Roy, who was now napping peaceful, made no notice of it...

There you go! R & R please! Thank you! This was one of my longer chapters, I'm quite proud of it... Chapter Four will be coming up soon!


	4. The Tempting Red Button

Chapter Four has arrived! Wait, I forgot the disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I don't own Mario or any of his pals. Or the Koopalings. Yeh.

Read on...

* * *

Roy couldn't see anything. He rubbed his eyes to rid himself of his sleepiness, and found himself still on Ludwig's bed. He looked around, and was surprised by what his eyes met. The room, which was a complete and total mess the day before, was now briskly clean.

_What a neat freak that Kooky is, _Roy thought to himself as he got off the bed. He didn't know what he was going to do now; he couldn't leave this room, Ludwig was nowhere to be seen, and his stomach was complaining of hunger.

As much as he tried to restrain it, a mischievous smile crossed Roy's face. He had this whole room to himself, or at least until Ludwig returned. These inventions seemed almost as tempting as an Iggy Punching Bag.

Roy looked around, and touched a strange, squirming blob of goop. A weird sensation coursed through Roy's veins, as if he had just dived headfirst into a puddle of icy water. These contraptions were just crying out, "Touch me!"

As if he wasn't tempted enough, the next thing that met Roy's eyes was a huge, shiny, sparkling red button. It was sending messages to Roy's brain. _You must touch me! You must touch me!_

_No! _Roy fought back. _I'm not touching you._

The button continued to persuade him. _Come on, it won't do any harm! Ludwig will never find out._

Roy was sweating.

_Uh… no! No, I will not touch you! Not now, not ever! _

Unfortunately, Roy was fighting a losing battle.

_You won't regret it! _The button tempted.

_Uh… uh… FINE! FINE! Just one quick little click. _Roy gave up trying to stay away from the crimson button. He extended one clawed finger, reached forward, and—

"_What are you doing?_" Ludwig shouted as soon as he entered the room and saw Roy almost pressing the button. "_Don't touch that!_"

But alas, the chocolate-loving philosopher was just a moment too late, for at that instant, Roy's finger slipped, slamming the button. Instantly, a trap door opened, throwing Roy down into the dark abyss.

"_ROY!_" Ludwig's furious scream echoed from above.

Roy was falling quickly; he felt his sunglasses slip off from the top of his head. He didn't know where he was going or why, and he didn't know what was going to happen next. Everything was totally dark as he flew down the deep tunnel. Finally, he collapsed from out of nowhere. He picked up his shades in confusion. Looking around him, he saw...

"Mario's Pad!" Roy pronounced. He was standing right in front of the building that had handed him and his siblings so much pain. This was the home of Mario and Luigi; it looked rickety and tasteless, but did seem to have a few renovations since he had last attempted to defeat them.

"Whoa... weird," Roy murmured to himself. "Why the heck did Ludwig make a tunnel here?" He searched around for a way out, and, luckily, found a sign. He read it.

To Mushroom Way 

"Mushroom Way, huh?" Roy contemplated. "I've never been there. Well, it's better than doing nothi—"

Before Roy could finish the sentence, he heard something from behind him. Anxious it would be the Mario Bros., he looked around.

Roy sighed. It was just Ludwig. He had also pressed the red button, and he had just appeared next to him.

"_Roy! What have you done?_" yelled Ludwig as he ran to him. "Why did you press that button? It teleports you to Mario's Pad!"

"No duh," Roy answered.

"I cannot believe that you would go to such extremes! Pressing a random button?" Ludwig growled. Roy was a bit taken aback.

"Gee, sorry Kooky," Roy apologized half-sarcastically, half-truly.

"_And I keep telling you not to call me that!_" Ludwig shouted angrily. Roy looked a bit stunned at Ludwig's sudden hysteria, but, as he had expected, Ludwig began to calm down again. Taking a deep breath to pacify his nerves, Ludwig added, "Let's get out of this place. We can take a shortcut through Mushroom Way and go to the castle. We must head due southeast in order to find a pipe that leads us there."

Roy only understood part of what Ludwig had just explained.

"Uh, sure," Roy said confusedly. He instead decided to follow Ludwig, because he had no idea how to get back to the castle.

And so, Ludwig led the way. They pushed past a few shrubs and bushes and entered a meadow known as Mushroom Way. They had to stray off the main path in order to find the pipe back to Bowser's Castle.

Following Ludwig behind, Roy felt the deep rumbles of his stomach once again distract him.

"Uh, Kook—err—Ludwig?" Roy asked. "Do ya know where to find food?"

Ludwig made a stern face.

"I was about to give you some breakfast, but you decided to push a button and get transported far away," Ludwig said reprovingly.

"Yeah, about that," Roy told him uncertainly. "I'm really sorry."

Ludwig couldn't help but open his mouth in surprise.

"You are?" Ludwig asked him strangely. Then, he felt Roy's head. "Are you feeling all right, Roy?"

"Yeah..." Roy murmured, trailing off. Then, suddenly, he snapped back into position. "Of course I'm feeling fine, you nerd!"

Ludwig had a mixture of anger and confusion in his head.

"Fine," Ludwig answered. He continued leading him deeper into the grassy, tree-filled fields of Mushroom Way, pondering what was making Roy act so strange all of a sudden. He was wondering if Roy would ever turn this way again, but apparently, he probably wasn't going to.

"Hurry _up!_" Roy complained.

"That's what I'm trying to do," Ludwig retorted while pushing a tree out of his way. Suddenly, they both froze in terror. Two plumbers, one in red and one in green, were walking along the forest, a few feet away from them. Instinctively, Ludwig dived into a bush, pulling Roy along with him.

Mario and Luigi walked along a path, talking about spaghetti and the lint inside of Luigi's bellybutton.

"It's-a such a cool piece of lint," Luigi told him. "Whenever I-a rub-a my tummy, it does a little dance."

Roy bit his lip in order to keep himself from laughing.

"I'm-a glad I don't have lint in my bellybutton," Mario replied, "because-a sometimes I can't even-a find my bellybutton."

"How can-a you lose a bellybutton?" Luigi asked, confused.

Roy giggled silently, and he heard Ludwig mutter something about "blithering idiots".

Once the Lint Brothers finally were out of sight, Ludwig continued to drag Roy along the path towards the pipe.

"How much _longer?_" Roy growled in hunger.

"Not much," Ludwig answered while gnashing his teeth.

The walk to the pipe was probably no more than five minutes, but it had felt like five hours to both Ludwig and Roy.

As they reached it, Ludwig noticed a sign. It took him seconds to read it, and as soon as he finished reading it, he went red with anger.

"Out of order: mechanical dysfunction."

"_GRARGH!_" Roy exploded. "_What do they mean, 'out of order'? Was that pipe put there just to make me miserable?_"

"Calm down!" Ludwig snarled, though it was obvious that he was outraged as well. "We have to think of another way out of here."

"_We?_" Roy asked incredulously. "I'm not going to waste my time thinking about something else. Why don't we just fix it? You _can _fix it, can't you?"

Ludwig nodded. "Yes, I could. However: I have no tools, nails or appliances. I don't have blueprints on what is broken. For all I know, I'm not even sure that this pipe is still properly functional, with or without the mechanical dysfunction!"

"Well, we could work all that out," Roy answered, though he didn't really mean it.

"Is that so?" Ludwig answered, raising an eyebrow. "Where can you find plumbing tools?"

However, Roy didn't need to answer Ludwig's question. Both of them knew what it was. Ludwig eyed him roguishly.

"I think you better get going," he said, smirking.

"_What?_" Roy said loudly. "I have to go that Mario's house to pick up _plumbing tools? Are you kidding me?_" Even the mere thought of it made Roy feel disgusted.

"No, Roy, I am not kidding," Ludwig told him. "And I suggest you get going right now. Those persistently irritating engineers will probably be on their way home now. It may be risky, but it's the only chance we've got."

"_You can't make me!_" Roy didn't give up.

"Well, I guess we can stay here and starve," Ludwig said carelessly.

Roy was fuming. He hated when he didn't get his way.

"You know what? _FINE! I'll do it! You happy?_" Roy barked gruffly and stormed off. Ludwig chuckled playfully to himself.

* * *

And that's it for the fourth chapter! Chapter Five will be coming your way soon!

Oh, and by the way, don't forget to read and review.


	5. Roy Against Mario

Chapter Five, coming your way!

This chapter will contain action, which is a nice change.

Note that the main plot has not been introduced quite yet. It will probably be introduced at around Chapters Eight – Ten, though it depends on several factors.

What is the plot?

I'm not telling you.

Heh.

But you'll see it soon enough.

Anyway, how to end this excruciatingly long intro... Ah, yes!

I do not own Mario or his pals or the Koopalings, etc. etc.

Read on!

Oh, wait, I almost forgot.

Since you don't really know what's going on at the castle (seeing how Ludwig and Roy are currently elsewhere), I'll be dividing this chapter into two parts, just so you know what's going on.

Okay, NOW read on.

* * *

Roy hiked along the bumpy grassland, still a bit angry about how Ludwig managed to get him to do what he wanted. Why was he going to get _plumbing tools _from Mario's house while Ludwig was going to bask in the spotlight by fixing the pipe and saving the day?

It made him want to crush Ludwig into a small pile of ash, but it was too late now. Growling in fury, he wasn't looking forward when—

"_YOW!_"

His head exploded with pain and he stumbled backwards. It took him a minute to regain his vision, and when he managed to see what had hit him, it made his eyes almost pop out of their sockets.

"A-ha! It's-a Roy Koopa!" exclaimed the voice of Luigi Mario.

"It is?" asked Mario. "I thought that was Iggy."

Roy recovered from the pain and was immediately angered by being confused for his nerdy, bespectacled younger brother.

"I ain't Iggy!" Roy roared at the red plumber. "And if ya don't get out of the way, you won't live to see tomorrow!"

"Ooh, scary," Mario scoffed. "Won't you-a ever give up?"

"Not when I'm dealing with a brainless chump like you!" Roy barked back. He clenched his fists.

"I wouldn't be talking," Mario retorted while clenching his fists as well.

"Look, Mario, he wasn't doing anything, let's just let-a him go," Luigi tried to break them apart.

"_NO!_" shrieked Mario and Roy instantly. Luigi backed away.

"If that's what you want," Luigi said, shrugging his shoulders.

And thus, the fight began.

Meanwhile, back the castle…

"Where could they have possibly _gone?_" Lemmy Koopa asked loudly as he searched Ludwig's room thoroughly. He, Wendy and Morton where looking for their two missing brothers.

"We've looked everywhere," Wendy said, groaning. "They're nowhere. And I'm getting hungry."

"Too bad Larry isn't here. He could have helped us find Ludwig and Roy with his amazing spying techniques," Morton told the others.

"Where's Iggy, anyway?" Wendy asked Lemmy as she looked under Ludwig's bed (she was getting quite desperate).

"He didn't come," Lemmy said simply. "He kinda wanted to let Roy disappear. It sure would make things a lot easier for him."

Morton took a deep breath.

"I don't really blame Iggy I mean Roy is pretty annoying sometimes like yesterday when he bopped me across the face—oh, and thanks for sticking up for me Wendy but I am not a nut, am I?—but there's no reason why he shouldn't look for him I mean Roy is our brother whether Iggy likes it or not so he has to live with it!" Morton finished. He inhaled deeply again.

"Are you done yet?" Wendy asked dully.

"Yep," Morton answered quickly.

"If only we had a clue to where they could've gone," Lemmy pondered out loud. "Is there anything even remotely suspicious in here?"

"How about that egg?" Wendy responded, pointing at the now-glowing egg in the corner. "I don't remember seeing it before Roy got grounded."

"Good work, Wendy!" Lemmy cried appreciatively. Wendy fluttered her eyelashes smugly. "I bet this has something to do with that egg."

"Yeah, well, I don't have any idea what an egg has to do with the disappearance. But it's strange that it came out of nowhere," Morton talked to them. He leaned on a big, red button. "I mean, it's just another—_AAAH!_"

Morton's talking was immediately cut off, as he disappeared into thin air. Lemmy and Wendy stood frozen in silence for a whole minute, and then looked at each other disbelievingly.

"Did Morton just vanish?" Wendy questioned Lemmy.

"It appears so," Lemmy replied.

They looked at each other for another minute, and then screamed out in shock.

* * *

Luigi chewed his fingernails nervously as Roy and Mario held their tightened fists up in the air, ready for battle.

Mario made the first move. He dashed forward at a high speed, then leaped into the air and headed directly at Roy.

Roy recognized this attack as Mario's Jump, so he easily dodged it by getting out of the way. Roy threw a fist at Mario's head, but Mario deflected it with a kick. This sent Roy stumbling backwards.

Mario saw this as an opportunity and dashed forward, kicking Roy into a tree.

"Graah!" Roy growled as he crashed into the large redwood.

"Had enough?" Mario said patronizingly.

"No way," Roy muttered. He got up and dashed towards the plumber at such a breakneck speed that Mario didn't see it coming. Roy slammed his fist so strongly that it sent Mario colliding with the ground harshly. Luigi squealed stupidly. The floor shook for a second.

Mario slowly pushed himself up from the ground. He had a cut on his cheek.

"Not bad," he said stonily.

Mario dashed towards Roy in return, with a fist in the air. Roy did the same, and both of them collided at the same time. A cloud of dust flew in the air; then revealed Roy burrowed into the ground and Mario kneeling in pain.

Roy dug himself out; he had gotten the worse of the collision. He felt his face throbbing and stinging. Mario, though, had also taken quite a bit of damage from the blow.

"Eek!" chirped Luigi.

"I'm… not… letting… you… win… **_AGAIN!_**" Roy got up from the ground and raced towards Mario. However, the plumber was prepared. He kicked Roy away just before he made contact with him.

"I wouldn't get your-a hopes up," Mario taunted. Roy recovered from the kick and fired a roundhouse kick to Mario's stomach, but Mario dodged it, jumped in the air, and slammed his full body weight onto Roy's head.

"_ARGH!_" Roy grunted as his head nearly burst with pain. Mario jumped off of Roy's head nimbly and tripped him, causing Roy to collapse to the ground devastatingly.

When Mario tripped Roy and made him fall, Luigi couldn't contain his excitement. He decided to shout out a bad joke to vent his anxiety.

"Have a nice **trip**, Roy! See you next **fall!**" Luigi howled. "Hee, hee, I made a funny!"

Nobody had paid attention to him. Roy had recovered from Mario's Jump attack and had countered him with a heavy blow to the cheek. Mario's cheekbone ignited with pain; the cut grew even bigger.

Mario realized his weak spot. He defended his cheek against a few more of Roy's crippling punches, and, (un) luckily, managed to defend against all of them.

"Tired?" Roy cried out after dodging a blow from Mario.

"Don't-a count on it," Mario answered.

And so, the fight continued.

* * *

"We've got to find out where he went," Lemmy said, panicking. "Where was Morton before he mysteriously disappeared?"

"I don't know!" Wendy advised him, equally frantic. "I was looking at the egg!"

"Me too," Lemmy concurred. "We're going to have to think of something."

Wendy opened her mouth to answer, but she was interrupted.

"_Kids! Lunch!_" shouted their father from downstairs.

"Oh, lovely," Lemmy said sarcastically. "How are we going to explain to dad that Morton and Ludwig are missing?"

"I don't know," Wendy answered. "We'll have to improvise."

Wendy and Lemmy left Ludwig's room and sped down the stairs leading into the Koopa kitchen. Only Iggy was at the table. Bowser was serving the food.

"Where are the others?" he asked them.

Lemmy and Wendy sat down at the table nervously.

"S-somewhere," Lemmy answered.

"_Where?_" Bowser emphasized.

"Uh-uh—" Wendy stuttered. "They're contestants on an, uh, quiz show!"

"Really?" inquired Bowser, interested. "They never told me about it."

"Oh, that's because—because—it was supposed to be a secret!" Lemmy blurted out.

"Are they going to be on television?" Bowser questioned them curiously.

"Uh, nope," Wendy said quickly. "It's a secret quiz show."

"That's odd," Bowser told them.

"Yeah, and—" Lemmy thought for a second. "—Ludwig is a contestant, but—uh—Morton is actually the host, because, you know, he talks so much."

"Oh, that's pretty cool," Bowser said, fascinated. "When are they coming back?

"Eh—" Lemmy faltered.

"We don't know," Wendy chimed in. "They didn't tell."

"All right, enough talking, let's dig in!" Bowser said with a hint of hunger in his voice. Serving Wendy and Lemmy a ham-and-mushroom sandwich. Lemmy looked at Iggy. He knew that he didn't believe their whole 'quiz show' story, but Iggy kept quiet. That was good. Wendy and Lemmy began to chew on their sandwiches nervously.

* * *

The battle had continued for another twenty minutes. Both Mario and Roy were very tired by now. Roy had a lot of scratches on his face and arms, his shades were crippled and dirty, and he had a huge bruise on his left arm. Mario's cut under his cheek had expanded, and his legs were crumpled due to a lot of slashes from Roy's clawed feet. He could barely run, let alone stand. Luigi had been jumping around excitedly the whole time, but was largely ignored.

Roy threw a heavy blow towards Mario's stomach, but the plumber only got an indirect hit. Mario quickly recovered and slammed his fists into Roy's face, knocking him backwards a few feet. Roy couldn't recover fast enough to realize that Mario had then kicked him in the shin.

"_URGH!_" Roy cried painfully as Mario dealt heavy blows out to him.

Hearing Luigi shouting, "Finish him off!" in the background, Mario climbed up a tree and leaped into the air, and began rocketing down dangerously towards Roy. This was likely going to be the strongest jump attack he was ever going to exploit.

"Say goodbye, Roy Koopa!" Mario's shout rang in the air as he rushed towards the ground.

* * *

Cliffhanger!

Suspenseful music plays

Chapter Six will be up soon.


	6. Kooky to the Rescue

Sixth chapter has arrived!

I do not own Mario, or the Koopalings, or Bowser, or Peach, or Waluigi, or Luigi, or Wario, or Toad, or Yoshi, or Yaridovich, or—

Well, you get it.

(Suspenseful music that was playing at the end of Chapter Five stops playing)

Fine! Your loss!

Read on…

* * *

Luigi looked at the amazing scene. Mario crashed right where he was planning to land, but a whole cloud of dust blew up just before he could figure out what had happened. Luigi's eyes strained, trying to get a closer view of the scene. The mist of dust was taking an awful lot of time to disappear. Finally, the smog lifted.

"_WAH!_" Luigi freaked out as he saw what had happened.

Mario was on the floor, out cold. However, he wasn't the only one that was unconscious. Another body was also on the floor, knocked out. And it wasn't Roy. It was Ludwig.

"It's the turtle with the wacky blue hair!" Luigi screeched while hopping up and down maniacally. "Where did he come from?"

"He…" Roy began, but his body was aching so much that he could hardly get the words out. "He saved my life."

Luigi shrieked, but then put on a confused face.

"Huh?" Luigi said while scratching his head. "How could he have saved you?"

"He took your idiot brother's hit for me," Roy said scratchily. His whole body was pounding with pain, but the drama of the situation had made him completely forget it.

"Yah!" Luigi squealed. "Mario! I'll get you out of here!" The plumber in green lifted Mario up (with tremendous effort) and lifted him over to their house. Roy was too exhausted/injured to go anywhere, so he lay limply on the ground with his eyes barely open. Ludwig was currently unconscious, but he would probably awaken sometime soon.

Roy's brain had no thoughts. He was lifeless in a way. Had he won or lost? It was basically a draw, but Roy was satisfied with actually making it out of there alive. His brain finally burst back into working order, and he began to recollect what had just happened.

He had engaged Mario in a deadly battle. At the very end, as Mario was about to finish him off once and for all, Ludwig came in out of nowhere and took the hit for him. The result of the attack had made Ludwig and Mario unconscious. So, he, Roy, who had received the most damage, was the only one that wasn't comatose at the moment.

Suddenly, Roy heard very loud screaming from nearby. What he heard almost made him stand up.

"You!" shouted the unmistakable voice of Luigi. "What are you doing here? How many of you are there, anyway?"

"Luigi! It is you with Mario! What are you two doing here well it IS your house but still and why is Mario hurt and full of pain I mean that is so strange what happened was there a fight and by the way—"

Roy's eyes nearly rolled out of the sockets and on the floor. He knew who that was. And his brain couldn't believe his ears.

"Get out-a!" Luigi commanded. "Can't you-a see that we have a situation, Martin?"

"It's Morton M-O-R-T-O-N named after King Morton Koopa Sr. who is my grandfather and he was a very cool person or at least I think so but what I do know is that he looked a lot like me when he was a kid!" Morton babbled all at once.

"What?" Luigi said, confounded by Morton's never-ending speech.

"Can't you see that I'm here do you know how to get out of here I mean I don't even know how I got here did I even get here where am I who am I why am I here what time is it who are you?" Morton said quickly.

"_ARGH!_" Luigi groaned. "Leave me alone! Go bug your two other brothers!"

"_TWO OTHER BROTHERS?_" Morton repeated loudly. "_You mean they're here? Roy and Ludwig?_" Luigi nodded. Morton continued, _"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! Where are they? How did they get here? You must tell me! YOU MUST TELL ME RIGHT NOW OR ELSE I'LL POUND THE POOP OUT OF YOU though actually I won't BUT STILL TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!_"

"_OKAY!_" Luigi exploded. "They're right down the path. Just, _please, PLEASE _shut up!"

"All right!" Morton agreed. "I will shut up, be quiet, stop talking, say nothing, zip it, _AND _quit chattering!"

"Sure, now get out of here!" Luigi grunted, almost collapsing from Mario's weight. Morton nodded and ran to the tree-filled meadow. Once he saw Ludwig and Roy, he began chattering nonstop.

"Roy! Ludwig! You guys are _alive! _Oh my god Wendy and Lemmy are going to be so proud of me when I tell them that you guys are here—oh no I forgot!—I don't know how to get home so could you please tell me where to go and I will go, leave, depart—Ludwig, are you even _listening to me?_—Pay attention guys I'm talking to you please answer, respond, reply—"

"_SHUT IT, MORTON!_" Roy exploded; he was angered by the fact that he couldn't punch every bit of Morton he could possibly punch. "_Can't you see that I'm wounded and Kooky's unconscious?_"

"_KOOKY-I MEAN-LUDWIG'SUNCONSCIOUS?_" Morton shrieked. "_That's not good, great, excellent, satisfactory, admirable or terrific!_"

"_DO SOMETHING, YOU IDIOT!_" Roy hollered.

"Like what?" Morton said, panicking.

"_I don't know!_" Roy screamed bitterly. "_I don't care! Just DO SOMETHING!_"

"I've got it!" Morton chimed while lighting up. He walked over to Ludwig, slapped him on the face, and began shouting at him. "_WAKE UP, LUDWIG! RISE AND SHINE!_"

He continued slapping the sophisticated scientist until he finally snapped back to his senses.

"Huh, what?" Ludwig said faintly while recollecting what had happened. "_MORTON? WHAT ARE YOU—WHY AM I—WHAT THE HECK?_"

"You saved me from Mario, went unconscious, and was just woken up by Morton who came up out of nowhere!" Roy blurted out.

"Uh—ugh—" Ludwig was a struggle for words. "—Okay, I need you to explain this a little better, because I seem to have a bit of short-term memory loss."

Roy, although not in a mood to explain everything, told him all that had recently occurred. At the beginning, Ludwig was confused, but by the end, he had recovered from his loss of memory, and was back to his cool, calm and collected personality.

"Okay," he told the other two. "We must go to Luigi and ask him for the plumbing tools. He, frankly, has nothing to lose, because it will make us go away."

"But wait," Roy suddenly remembered. "How were you able to save me when you didn't know I was being attacked?"

"I followed you," Ludwig answered him simply. "Did you really think I would let you go there alone?"

Roy shook his head truthfully.

"So should we get going to collect the tools, items, appliances and apparatuses from Luigi?" Morton asked the other two.

"Yeah," Ludwig answered. "But I think Roy should stay here."

"No, it's okay, I can still walk," he told them. Then, he added, "I think."

"Well, I don't want to risk leaving you alone again, so…" Ludwig thought for a second. "Morton, carry Roy on your back."

"_What?_" Morton complained. "No way!"

"Yes way," Ludwig replied. "You can handle it. Or can you?"

"Yeah!" Morton responded confidently.

"All right then," Ludwig said approvingly. He grabbed Roy and dumped him on Morton's back.

"Ugh," Morton sighed.

"Let's get going!" Ludwig told the others cheerfully. They returned to the rickety home of the Mario brothers. Luigi was pacing about and Mario was napping in a bed when they arrived.

"You _AGAIN!_" Luigi harrumphed. "I've had enough of you! All of you! _Out of my house!_"

"Shut up and listen," Roy threatened while holding a bloodied fist up to Luigi's face. Luigi muttered a meek "okay".

"Look, Luigi," Ludwig explained. "We need to borrow your plumbing tools. If you give them to us, we'll leave peacefully. If you don't, we'll stay here and harass you for the rest of your life."

Luigi seemed a bit shaken (and confused) by this intimidation.

"Okay, okay! Take them!" Luigi shouted while pointing to a drawer in the corner. Ludwig went to the drawer, emptied it of its plumbing tools, and walked back to Morton and his piggyback rider.

"Ta-ta for now," Ludwig gestured as he and the others left Mario's Pad.

They made their way to the pipe, where Morton was finally able to put Roy down.

"All right, let me see what I can do. I'm not promising anything," Ludwig said truthfully.

"Do your best," Morton cheered him on.

"What he said," Roy concurred.

Ludwig pulled out the tools and worked so beautifully that Morton and Roy were left dumbfounded. Ludwig fixed the pipe in only three minutes.

"Wow!" Morton stuttered. "That was amazing, astounding, remarkable, astonishing, wonderful, incredible, marvelous and awe-inspiring!"

"Good use of adjectives," Ludwig joked. "All right, let's get out of here."

Ludwig jumped into the pipe first, followed by Morton, and finally Roy. As he looked back at Mushroom Way, he was very happy that he would, at last, get away from this horrible experience. Little did he know what was going to meet him when he returned to the castle…

* * *

And… done!

Chapter Six has been terminated.

Man, do I ever get bored of putting cliffhangers?

Maybe I should write a suspense story.

Well, seventh chapter will arrive momentarily!


	7. Returning Home

(Laughs maniacally)

I am truly evil! I have made you wait not one day, but TWO days to receive Chapter Seven!

Why?

I don't know.

You don't know.

Let's leave it at: "I felt like it."

Oh, and I don't own anything.

Anyway, here is Chapter Seven!

* * *

Darkness covered everything, and it was basically impossible to see. As quick as a gunshot, Morton, Ludwig and Roy were transported back to the castle grounds. 

"Home sweet home," Ludwig sighed.

"You took the words right outta my mouth," Roy remarked happily.

"I'll catch up with you guys later," Morton shouted while running back into the castle. Although Morton was the only one who was making his way back into the castle, both Roy and Ludwig were even happier about getting back home than he was.

"So, what now?" Roy asked Ludwig as the sunny sky bloomed above them.

"I have to return to my laboratory," suggested the Koopa with the wacky blue hair. "I still need to install the hologram projector in the dungeons."

"Huh?" Roy seemed confused. "What hologram projector?"

"You forgot already?" Ludwig asked him impatiently. "Remember when I told you that we had to set up that hologram projector in the dungeons so that King Dad does not notice that you aren't there?" (Author's Note: Yay, I finally found an excuse to make an authors note! erm Excuse me. If you have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to "the hologram projector", check back to Chapter Two. It shall explain everything… again.)

"Oh, that's right," Roy remembered, smacking himself mentally. "You'd better hurry up," Roy added.

"Wait here," Ludwig told him. He ran back into the huge, towering bastion and Roy stood outside, patiently (well, actually _im_patiently) waiting for him to return.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the castle… 

"Morton, wait up!" Ludwig wheezed towards the would-be talk show host. They were inside the main entrance of the huge castle, so nobody had seen them come in yet.

"Yes, Ludwig? What would do you want, desire, covet, yearn for and crave?" Morton quizzed him.

"I would like it if you'd keep our little escapade secret," Ludwig advised him. "I vow, I'll listen to at least _one _of your world-renowned speeches this week _if _you keep the secret a secret."

"Seriously? Truly? Definitely? For sure? Sincerely? Earnestly? Honestly?" Morton blathered, thinking of every synonym for 'really' that he could possibly imagine.

"_Yes!_" Ludwig snapped with irritation. "Now skedaddle, and don't tell _anyone!_"

"You can count on me! One, two, three, four, five, six!" Morton shouted while running away.

Ludwig rolled his eyes, then, making like Larry, began to sneak up the stairs, trying to be unnoticed. He was about to enter his room, when he met a rather unpleasant surprise.

"Ludwig!" Iggy greeted happily. "You're finally back! I was getting worried about—"

"Shh!" Ludwig silenced. "I can't let anyone see me. I'm about to go on a top secret mission."

"That's what I thought," said a voice, and it wasn't Iggy's. It came from the ceiling. Ludwig and Iggy's heads bolted up, and saw none other than Cheatsy himself, Larry Koopa. He was in a black criminal-type suit and was sticking to the ceiling via suction cup.

"Larry!" Iggy shouted. "You're back! Did it go well?"

"You betcha," Larry replied while suction-cupping his way down towards the floor. "I finally managed to steal a box of treasure from those dim-witted Mushroomers."

"What happened?" replied Iggy while focusing his glasses excitedly.

"Well, I raided Peach's Castle's vault and managed to snatch away two treasure boxes. There were only two there. I guess the others must be kept in another top-secret area, but I'll find them yet. Either way, I should get back to my room to flower my plants—I mean—count my earnings. I'll meet up with you guys later." With that, Larry swept into the shadows, ninja-style.

"He's so cool," Iggy pointed out. "I wish I was more like him."

Ludwig, who was temporarily distracted by this interruption, continued talking.

"We have got to get to my room. I need to make sure Roy doesn't get spotted," Ludwig told him while beginning to walk into his room. Iggy, however, stay rooted to the spot.

"Aren't you coming?" Ludwig asked him.

"No," Iggy said icily. "I don't want to know anything about what's-his-name."

Ludwig crossed his arms.

"His name is _Roy_," Ludwig told him angrily. "And I'm sure you know that. And if you think I'm playing a game right now, then so be it."

Ludwig reentered his room. Iggy stood in deep thought for a long time. He was mad at Roy, yes, but he had never complained about it. It seemed that it had finally hit a nerve.

Iggy stood in silence for a few seconds. Then, he followed Ludwig into his room.

Ludwig was busy rummaging his desk when he saw Iggy come in.

"What?" Ludwig shot at him.

"We need to talk," Iggy answered. Ludwig stopped what he was doing.

"Have a seat," Ludwig said to him while pointing at his bed. Iggy sat down. "What would you like?"

"It's about Roy," Iggy told him. "Why is he always this way to me?"

Ludwig stood in silence for a few minutes.

"That, Iggy, I cannot answer. If I could, my best answer would be this: everyone in the world is different. We all have different personalities. Roy is a bully. Wendy is a snob. I'm a philosophical mastermind—" (Iggy sighed) "—and Lemmy is a clown. We're all different. We react differently to other people's actions. I have no idea why Roy acts this way, whether it be because he has a rough personality, because he hates your guts… or maybe even because he has had a traumatic experience," Ludwig explained lucidly. "I cannot quite explain this to you in the way that I would like to. I do hope you understood what I just said, as it may be a lot to absorb in one sitting."

"So what you're saying is," Iggy said unsurely, "that Roy may or may not be acting like this because of his personality?"

"You may say that," Ludwig agreed. "I suggest you ask him, if you really want to find out. Or, if you want, you may continue avoiding him and getting nowhere."

Iggy stood in thought for quite a while. Ludwig continued to search his cabinets until he finally managed to find his handy hologram projector. It looked a lot like a bigger version of a mechanical pencil sharpener; the only difference was that it had a big hole that ten pencils could fit in.

"Well?" Ludwig finally asked. "Are you coming or not?"

Iggy reflected on what had just happened, then nodded his head.

"Yes," he answered.

"All right then," Ludwig said, clutching his hologram projector and leaving the room. Iggy shortly followed.

* * *

Roy was just about sick of waiting. Finally, he saw two familiar siblings running over to him: Ludwig and Iggy. 

"You're back," Roy pointed out. Then, he sneered at Iggy. "And so are you."

Iggy glared at him, but said nothing. Ludwig realized that he had to butt into the frowning contest before it started to get violent.

"Let's go make a hologram of you, Roy," Ludwig told him. "Dad may be going into the dungeons any moment now." He rushed off towards the dungeons.

Roy and Iggy glared fiercely at each other before following Ludwig into the murky chambers.

* * *

Ludwig entered through the hole that he had blasted when Roy had escaped from the dungeons, though it was hard for him, because he was heavier and taller than Roy. Roy managed to get in through the hole with only a bit of a strain, and Iggy easily slipped through it. 

"Okay. Now, stand here, and I'll make an identical, holographic copy of you," Ludwig told him. He put Roy into position and took out his projector.

Ludwig pressed a tiny button on the bottom of the projector, and a shiny, blue light shot off from the hole in the projector and was fired at Roy. Iggy and Ludwig covered their eyes (though Roy didn't need to, thanks to his shades) because of the blinding light. Finally, the light died down, and they could reopen their eyes.

"Success," Ludwig said triumphantly. Roy looked to his right. A mirror image of him was standing next to him. It looked so realistic that Roy reached out and touched it; it was like touching a ghost; he felt absolutely nothing.

"Hey, watch it!" Roy's holographic clone shouted. "Don't even try to touch me, or I'll punch your lights out!"

"Excellent!" Ludwig cheered. "Nobody will tell the difference."

"_What's going on?_" a voice commanded; it came from the entrance to the dungeons. Ludwig, Roy and Iggy shot their heads to the entrance.

It was Bowser.

* * *

Uh-oh! Yet another cliffhanger! 

Read and **_REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! I CAN'T STRESS IT ENOUGH!_**

Chapter Eight shall be brought to you sometime soon.

I shall return...


	8. Discovered

Chapter eight at last! I'm sorry for the delay.

Oh, and I changed my mind about when I'm going to give away the plot.

I'm going to give it away in Chapter **11**, instead of 8, 9 or 10.

I don't own anything. Thanks for the review, Vilmary (I was getting lonely).

Read on!

* * *

"_Roy? Ludwig? Iggy?_" Bowser asked loudly. He didn't seem angry, but he sure looked suspicious at how things were looking. "What's going on?"

None of them answered. Roy didn't answer because he felt that if he didn'ttalk, he would get into less trouble. Ludwig was _trying _to answer, but he couldn't get the words out. Iggy was also about to answer, but decided to pretend he didn't exist instead.

"_Answer me,_" Bowser commanded while stomping his foot on the floor.

"Uh—uh—" Ludwig was completely stammering. He was so shocked by his father's surprise visit that he couldn't explain himself.

"Roy was—was—" Iggy began, but couldn't think of anything.

"Going to the bathroom!" Ludwig blurted out. "Yes, and we were _unlocking _the cage door for him so he could… you know."

"Quit toying with me, Ludwig," Bowser answered disgustedly. Ludwig's jaw flopped down lifelessly. He could not believe his father ever saying that to him.

"What—what do you mean?" Ludwig hesitated.

"I know all about your little games," he spat at his eldest son. Then, he turned to Roy. "And as for you, you can consider yourself busted."

Like Ludwig, Roy was completely astonished at this remark. However, Ludwig had already recovered, and was now indignant.

"Please don't tell me that you figured everything out all by yourself," Ludwig told his dad while crossing his arms.

"I—well, I—" Bowser had nothing to say. Ludwig had a triumphant smirk on his face. "_All right, FINE! It wasn't me who figured all that out. I had some help._"

"_From who?_" Roy snapped immediately.

"Larry," Bowser answered. "He spied on you all the way from the beginning. Of course, he never told me. I had a little talk with him, and he spilled the beans. And Ludwig, please turn off Roy's hologram, it's useless now."

Ludwig, although scornful with his father, pressed a button and shut off Roy's holographic clone obediently.

"Now, I've planned all this out," Bowser explained. "Although I would ground both of you for **life**, I've decided to give you two a chance to explain a little more about your adventures. In fact, we're going to have a bit of a Koopa-Court situation."

"Koopa-Court?" Roy asked him incredulously.

"Yes," Bowser replied. "I'm going to be judge and plaintiff and your brothers and sisters are going to be the jury. And Iggy, get out from behind Ludwig."

Iggy jumped at being addressed, because he had been hiding behind Ludwig in an attempt to make himself invisible.

"Is that clear?" Bowser growled. Ludwig nodded his head regretfully. Roy offered a mere grunt. "Good. I shall see you in the courtroom—the throne room—at eight o'clock sharp. For now, you may go to your rooms and _stay there._"

Roy crossed his arms, cursed under his breath, and stomped to his room. Ludwig sighed, shook his head, and ambled to his laboratory as well.

"What about you?" Bowser snapped at Iggy.

"Um—" Iggy gave him a blank look. "Am I in trouble?"

Bowser looked at him and shook his head. "No. But this is one strike against you. If I catch you doing something like this again, you're going to spend quite a while in the dungeons."

Iggy gulped.

"Now, go to the throne room with the others," Bowser ordered. Iggy nodded sheepishly and ran towards the throne room as quickly as his little legs could carry him.

* * *

Roy was furious. He kicked the wall, threw himself on the bed, and felt his face get red. He was absolutely angry. His stupid younger brother had messed up his plot to get away from the dungeons, even after all that. Surely, he was going to pound on him just as soon as he got the chance.

Roy kept thinking angry thoughts until he couldn't take it any more. He stood up, nabbed a pencil and paper and created a badly drawn picture of Larry. Roy taped it to his punching bag and repeatedly _punched _it with such force that in a matter of seconds, it was completely shred into pieces.

* * *

Ludwig sat on his bed and sighed thoughtfully. He wasn't sure what he was going to do now that he was discovered. Sure, he was likely going to go to the dungeon, but other than that, there wasn't much more to do. He wasn't planning to complete any inventions, and he definitely wasn't thinking of fixing the broken Energy Giving Gear.

Finally, Ludwig remembered. He bolted up from his bed and saw… the egg. He had completely forgotten about it, what with all the commotion. It had grown to roughly twice its size, and was glowing lime green. That was strange. Ludwig stared at the egg, thinking…

* * *

In the throne room, the other five siblings were waiting anxiously for the trial to finally start.

"Larry, why did you snitch?" Lemmy scolded his youngest brother. "That wasn't good at all!"

"I know, I know," Larry confessed. "But it wasn't my fault! Dad squeezed me for information!"

"They shouldn't have run away anyway," Wendy answered while arranging her bow. "It was partly their fault, too."

"I can't believe we're finally doing this I mean we've never had Koopa-Court in our entire lives I'm so happy we finally get to have a court simulation in this very house and I'm going to have a lot of fun although this is a serious situation I'm still going to have so much fun! I want Roy and Ludwig to stay out of trouble but I don't think they will because they ran away, escaped, fled, absconded, eloped and ran off! Don't worry about me though I'm a good juror though I may talk a lot and I'll be happy to assist any of you in anything that any of you may want!" Morton blurted out.

"Thank you for the enlightenment, Morton," Lemmy said sarcastically.

"I'm scared," Iggy squealed.

"We know," chorused Wendy and Lemmy.

"Hey guys what time is it? I mean I have no idea what time it is do you guys know? Because I definitely have no idea—"

"_It's 7:58, now shut up, Morton!_" Wendy shrieked in frustration.

* * *

Roy was so angry; his head looked like a crimson tomato. He opened the window to get some air, but before he could, he heard yelling coming from downstairs.

"Roy! Ludwig! Get downstairs, it's judgment time!" he heard his father yell. Roy stamped out of the room, still enraged with Larry, and made his way to the throne room. When he arrived, Ludwig was already there. His five other siblings were lined up in the sidelines, and Bowser in his throne with a mallet in his hand.

"Order!" he shouted while stamping his mallet on a piece of cardboard. "The defendants have now arrived."

Roy and Ludwig sat down on chairs in front of the throne.

"Now, Roy Koopa, you have been accused of escaping from the dungeons despite my warnings," Bowser said while pointing his finger at Roy. Then, he turned to Ludwig. "And you, Ludwig Von Koopa, have been accused of helping him. How do you plead?"

"Guilty," Ludwig muttered.

"Innocent!" Roy blurted out. Ludwig gave him a weird look, but Roy whispered (without letting anyone else hear), "Dad can't be sure that we ran away just because Larry told him."

"Innocent, you say?" Bowser answered, a bit surprised by their claim. "Very well."

King Koopa turned to the jury.

"Do any of you know about their running away?" he asked them. They were all quiet, but they were giving each other looks. "_Answer me!_"

Morton scratched the back of his head.

"Morton?" Bowser called out.

Morton looked around hesitantly, but composed himself. "I know something, but I have vowed to Ludwig that I would not tell about it. I must keep my promise."

Bowser gave him an angry look. "_YOU TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW RIGHT NOW, MORTON KOOPA JR.!_"

Morton jumped at this sudden shouting. He gave Ludwig a desperate look. "Um," he gulped.

"_NOW!_" Bowser emphasized.

"Okay, okay!" Morton gave in. "I saw them by Mario's house, injured and unconscious."

"**_WHAT?_**" Bowser exploded. He turned to Roy for an answer "_What—how?_"

"I accidentally pushed a button, and I ended up in Mario's Pad, so then Ludwig came, and we looked for the pipe to return here, but then we had to get plumbing tools to fix it, and then I fought Mario and at the last minute Ludwig saved the day, and then Morton came out of nowhere and slapped Ludwig back conscious and then we went to the pipe, fixed it, came back here, and went to the dungeons, and then you caught us and made us go back to our rooms, and then we had to go to court in this throne room, and here we are!" Roy blabbed out.

It took Bowser a fairly long time to grasp what he had just heard.

"So you ran away to _Mario's _house," Bowser said disbelievingly.

"Not _exactly,_" Ludwig answered. "It's hard to explain."

"Silence!" he shouted at Ludwig. Then, he turned back to the jury. "Have any of you seen them with anything suspicious?"

Wendy raised her hand.

"Yes, Wendy?" Bowser asked his daughter.

"I saw an egg in Ludwig's room," she told them. Then, she began to jump up and down. "And the other day, there was an earthquake! And both of them were in Ludwig's room when it happened!"

Bowser's head snapped to Roy. "So you've been hiding out in Ludwig's room, have you?"

"Erm, yes," Roy coughed. It was impossible to deny that fact.

"And what's this about an earthquake?" Bowser asked Ludwig, knowing that he was usually the cause of earthquakes due to his dysfunctional inventions.

"One of my inventions went awry," Ludwig answered.

"Just as I thought!" shouted the Koopa King. Then, he turned back to the jury. "Do any of you have any reason why these two _shouldn't _go to the dungeon?"

Larry raised his hands.

"Yes?" Bowser asked.

"It's all my fault," Larry blurted out. "I shouldn't have told. You should put _me _in the dungeon."

"Be quiet, Larry," Bowser hissed. Larry sank into his chair sadly.

"Now, I shall ask the jury to vote for how long Roy should stay in the dungeon. I shall read the votes once you're all finished so nobody knows what anyone wrote," Bowser decided. The five jurors scribbled into pieces of paper and deposited them into Bowser's hand.

"Let me read out the votes," Bowser told them.

"One month. One week. Two weeks. One month. One month. The last vote says… one DAY?" Bowser said, surprised at the last vote.

Larry went cherry with embarrassment.

"It doesn't matter. Roy, you are going to the dungeon for a month," Bowser told him. Roy crossed his arms and went red.

"Now, I shall ask the jury to vote for how long Ludwig should stay in the dungeon. I shall read the votes once you're all finished so nobody knows what anyone wrote," Bowser repeated. Once again, the jury wrote their answers onto a piece of paper and deposited them into Bowser's hand.

"Let me read out the votes," Bowser repeated.

"One week. One week. Five days. One week. Two weeks. One week," Bowser read them. "Ludwig, you are going to the dungeon for one week."

Roy and Ludwig gave each other disgusted looks.

"Court adjourned." Bowser snapped his mallet on the cardboard.

* * *

That's it for Chapter Eight! Expect Chapter Nine up soon.

Later!


	9. Memories of a Childhood Bully

Why aren't there any reviews? Does anyone still read this?

If you're reading this message right now, please review!

Okay, that may be going a little far.

But still. Please review. I'm sure it can't be _that _boring.

Either way, here is the ninth chapter. This chapter will be somewhat of an emotional one. I don't mean emotional as in 'it will make you cry', well, maybe, but I mean emotional as in… well, just read on.

* * *

Roy sat in his cage in the dungeons… again.

For the second time, he was sent to the dungeons. And this time, there was likely to be no way out. He put his head into his arms and began to think angrily.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid Larry! That moron got me into the dungeons! I hate him! As soon as I get out of here, I'm going to give him the BIGGEST beating he'll ever get! I bet Ludwig will, too. He got stuck in the dungeons all because of Larry, that stupid double-crossing imbecile!_

Roy crossed his arms and felt himself go red again. He was seething. How could their youngest sibling betray them like that?

_Sure, Larry must be feeling bad NOW, but he knows that he's going to end up getting a good old-fashioned beating from me._

Roy thought for a while. Instead of getting angrier, he began to feel weird. It was no wonder that Larry was feeling bad. He was going to get beaten up, and he knew it. That's why everyone felt bad when they got Roy in trouble, because they would usually get a beating out of him when he got out of trouble.

A strange thought crossed Roy's mind for the third time this month.

_Maybe that's why they all hate me._

_Whenever I beat them up, they only hate me more. I wonder how Iggy must feel?_

Roy almost laughed at his foolishness. How could he let his emotions take advantage of him like this? He wasn't like this. Everyone knew him as the tough, hardcore Roy Koopa. And that was the way it was going to be, whether they liked it or not.

However, a little feeling inside him kept poking at him. It was the very small and ignored part of his brain: his emotions.

_Roy, you've got to stop. You know that you're not what everyone thinks you are. You've got to let yourself go once in a while; have a good-natured laugh, or perhaps help someone out when they need you._

Roy looked down at the floor.

_Or even... just once in your life... cry. Just sob. Weep into your shoulder. There's no harm in it. It's normal. Everyone does it, even the people you least expect to. Try it, Roy. It's been years since you did. Just cry._

Roy shook his head, trying to get rid of the thought.

_Just cry, Roy... Roy... Roy..._

"Roy! Roy!" shouted Ludwig.

"Huh?"

Roy slightly snapped back to reality. Looking around him, he noticed Ludwig standing in the cage next to him.

"Are you all right?" Ludwig asked unsurely. "I've been calling your name for a while and you haven't noticed me."

"Uh, yeah," Roy said distantly, staring into space.

Ludwig eyed him strangely and continued talking.

"I brought the egg with me," Ludwig told him. Roy finally overcame his daze and looked up at Ludwig.

"Seriously?" he asked, amazed.

"Yep," Ludwig answered. He showed the egg to him.

"Whoa," Roy studied. "It's gotten really big."

"I know. That's quite perplexing," Ludwig admitted. "Koopa eggs don't naturally do that. They usually spend all of their lives the same size. Only the object inside of the egg grows."

"What if it's not a Koopa?" Roy asked him.

"It is," Ludwig overruled. "Right before we got called downstairs for the court, I did a little search on the egg. There is a 99.986 chance this is a Koopa egg. The odds are quite overwhelming."

"Is it a Koopa Troopa?" Roy quizzed him.

"I don't know," Ludwig admitted solemnly. "I didn't have enough time to do that much research."

Minutes passed in silence. Roy looked at Ludwig in the eye.

"Ludwig, I've got to tell you something," he finally broke down.

Ludwig seemed a bit taken aback.

"What's the matter, Roy?" Ludwig questioned him.

"What I'm about to say does not leave this room. Err, cage," Roy said to him.

"Agreed," Ludwig answered.

Roy stood quiet for a few moments. Then, he began to tell his tale.

* * *

_It was a bright, sunlit morning in the Koopa Castle. The three young Koopas walked along the castle happily. Lemmy and Ludwig, the two older Koopas, held their brother's hand as they walked along to school._

_"Well, Roy, here we are... your pathway to education," Ludwig told him as they eyed the wondrous building. "You're going to go to kindergarten from now on. Can you handle it?"_

_"You bet!" cooed Roy as he ran into the school. Lemmy and Ludwig followed._

_"Kindergarten's to your right. If you want to see me, I'll be in first grade, and Ludwig's in second grade," Lemmy explained. "Bye!"_

_Lemmy and Ludwig waved goodbye to the cheerful, happy Roy as he entered the small room on the side door. He made many friends within a few days, and was always a jolly child. However, after the first two months of school, it all came to an end._

_A new kid, Stone, entered the school on the last day of October. As soon as he came in, life for Roy was a living nightmare. This new kid was evil; he was a complete and total bully. As soon as he came into class, Stone bullied everyone, especially Roy. Why did he bully Roy extra? Nobody knew. Perhaps it was because he was such a happy Koopa all the time._

_As days went by, Lemmy and Ludwig noticed a significant change in Roy. He was moody all the time, and never talked to them anymore. Lemmy was worried, but Ludwig told him that it was just a 'phase'. Roy was probably just overwhelmed about the responsibility of taking on kindergarten._

_It was one of the few times Ludwig was ever wrong._

_Finally, one day, Roy decided to stand up to Stone._

_"C'mon Roy-al Pain, give me your lunch money and I'll let you go off and do sissy things as usual," Stone mocked._

_"No," Roy answered forcefully. Stone was a bit surprised, but got an evil idea in his head._

_"Wow, Roy. That's a pretty cool answer. I didn't know you could stand up for yourself. Want to be my friend?" asked Stone. Despite Stone's fakeness, Roy's five-year-old mind couldn't tell the difference between right and wrong. Roy was surprised at his luck._

_"Sure!" Roy cried happily._

_"Meet me outside after school and we'll… play a game," Stone said mischievously. His intelligence, although used for evil, was very high._

_"Okay!" Roy answered. He looked forward to that event the whole day._

_Finally, the time came. Roy stepped outside, and Stone was waiting for him._

_"Let's play a game called, 'Kill the Dweeb,' Roy," Stone cackled. Roy looked confused. A fist flew into his face and knocked him onto the floor._

_"Ow!" Roy shouted. "What was that for?"_

_However, Stone didn't bother answering. He kicked Roy so hard that Roy rolled right into a wall and slammed his head forcefully onto the playground wall. Roy's head burst with pain._

_"Help!" he begged, but no one was there. Stone walked over to him and elbowed Roy's ribs. Roy gave out a painful choke and burst into tears. Stone grabbed him, lifted him over his head and lanced him onto the ground powerfully. Roy landed with a loud thud that covered him with dust. Finally, Stone finished the job by lifting him, banging his head into the school wall, and knocking him unconscious._

_When Roy woke up, he was in the nurse's room. The nurse had found him unconscious in the schoolyard. Roy's life was changed forever. He told his nurse not tell anyone anything about his bruises. Finally, however, the nightmare was over; Stone moved away at last. Roy still remembered, though._

_The next week, Iggy was born. He was born on the same day as Stone. Roy, who decided he couldn't stay 'Wimpy Roy' forever, became a bully himself, and decided to bully Iggy as a way of getting back at Stone.

* * *

_

There was completely silence. Nobody spoke.

Roy finished the story and crossed his arms sulkily. He had finally given away the secret, after all these years.

"I—I'm sorry, Roy," Ludwig answered simply.

"It's okay," Roy replied. "You don't have to apologize. You had nothing to do with it."

"Yes, I did!" Ludwig responded sharply. "If I had asked you what had been bothering you, perhaps we could've put a stop to it! I can't believe I was so foolish as to—"

"Ludwig, shut up," Roy told him lightheartedly. "It's not your fault. It was just a stupid secret that I was keeping for a while, it's nothing too important..."

Ludwig opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and then closed it again.

"As far as I know, I'll still Roy Koopa. All I've told you is some silly secret, and it's nothing you should take seriously," Roy told him. "Act as if nothing happened. Now that I've finally managed to tell the secret to someone, I won't get moody like I sometimes do. I feel great, actually. In fact, now I have nothing to feel sorry about! I can beat up Iggy without feeling shameful about it!"

Ludwig laughed.

"Okay, Roy, I'll do as you say," Ludwig reassured him.

"And remember… not a word to ANYONE!" Roy growled.

"Yes, yes, sure, whatever," Ludwig answered while smiling.

* * *

And… done! Yes, I know, that chapter was quite the 'emotional' one, and don't flame me, because it's pretty hard to write a sentimental story about Roy Koopa.

Anyway, REVIEW! REVIEW! **REVIEWWWW! WHERE ARE THE REVIEWS! PLEASE REVIEW!** (Cough & hack) Please review.

Chapter Ten will be up soon!


	10. Seven Days

Chapter Ten, up at LAST!

Sorry for the extremely long delay… it's been a hectic week.

Well, I DID take long, so, sorry for that.

This one's a bit short, but next chapter's likely going to be the longest ever.

I don't own anything.

Read on!

* * *

**DAY ONE:**

Today was my first day in the dungeon. I took the egg to the dungeon to study it some more, but that wasn't the highlight of the day. Roy told me a very important secret about himself. I didn't know he would ever tell anyone something so clandestine, but I guess that means he trusts me. It is mildly praiseworthy that Roy would trust ANYONE, especially about his secret. I learned that, as hard as it may be to imagine, Roy has feelings too. The most remarkable thing was that, even after he told me the secret, Roy continued to be a bully. Of course—if he started acting "nice", he would give away the secret to our other siblings. You learn something new every day.

Ludwig von Koopa, signing out.

**DAY TWO:**

Larry visited us today. He apologized for snitching to King Dad. I forgave him, but Roy, who wasn't nearly as merciful, starting yelling at him at the top of his lungs. Larry ran away almost immediately, but for some reason, it felt as if he still were with us. Perhaps he was. Later in the day, I continued to study the egg. I learned that it was fairly heavy, even for a Koopa Troopa egg. Conceivably, this egg may contain something much more important. According to my calculations, it'll probably be another four weeks before it finally hatches. If Roy gets out of the dungeon in time, he may be able to observe it while it hatches. I'm almost excited (though a bit frightened) at the results of what may come out of the egg.

Ludwig von Koopa, signing out.

**DAY THREE: **

Today I made a very strange discovery. The bottom of the egg had a few blue polka dots. This puzzles me even more, since many species on this planet seem to get polka dots on their eggs. Why is that? I have little clue. For all I know, it may still be a Koopa Troopa, but it is uncommon for Koopa Troopa eggs to contain polka dots. Only a few of them ever have polka dots at all, let alone blue polka dots. Roy seemed just as confused as I was—he had never raised an egg in his life. On other news, it rained today. The dungeon floor got wet and my feet became soggy. Good thing there are only four days left.

Ludwig von Koopa, signing out.

**DAY FOUR:**

Today was absolutely dreadful. Morton came to visit us, and since we couldn't reach him (because we were in our cages and he was outside of them), he talked and talked and talked. I only listened to about 1.4 minutes' worth of talking before finally ignoring him. Roy didn't even listen to Morton for 30 seconds. I hate to admit it, but that Morton is really tedious, even at the best of times. I hope he doesn't visit us any more. To make things worse, there was absolutely nothing to do. The egg was the same as yesterday and (still) had the same amount of polka dots as yesterday (I counted thirty-seven). Roy is acting just as normal as he did before he told me before the secret (i.e. bullheaded), but I can tell that there's a slight change in him. Who knows; maybe someday he'll turn good.

Ludwig von Koopa, signing out.

**DAY FIVE:**

I'm starting to look forward to getting out of the dungeons. It's another disaster, day after day. How irritating. Luckily, Roy is being a good sport about it, despite his anger about staying in it for a month. Lemmy and Iggy came today. Iggy's glasses had broken, and he had to borrow one of the servants' contact lenses so he can see until King Dad went and got him new ones. Lemmy brought us a ball. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but I spent a while playing games (such as catch and dodgeball) with Roy with it. Not much else happened today, so there really isn't much else to write about.

Ludwig von Koopa, signing out.

**DAY SIX:**

Finally, something important happened today. The egg began to hatch. Yes, that's right… it began to hatch. It appears that my calculations were way off. On Day Two, when I suggested that the egg might hatch in four weeks, I was incorrect. Since the egg had received a powerful beam from my Energy Giving Gear, it had boosted its strength dramatically, allowing the object inside of it to break free easier. In other words, since I powered the egg up, it would hatch sooner. By tomorrow, the egg will have already hatched. I'm getting quite excited…

Ludwig von Koopa, signing out.

* * *

Ludwig put his pencil down and closed his journal. It was late at night, and he and Roy were lying on the floor, doing nothing. They were both anticipating the moment when the egg was going to hatch.

"So you're saying that it's going to hatch tomorrow?" Roy asked Ludwig uncertainly.

"Yep," Ludwig replied. "It may even hatch overnight. Remember, the egg has one-thousand times its original strength."

Roy was too tired to respond, so he lay on his back. Within a few minutes, he dozed off. Ludwig was barely awake, looking at the egg sleepily.

Ludwig was dozing off. He could feel his eyelids drooping, his body shutting down… and, finally, he fell asleep completely. Roy was already dreaming by then…

…It was New Year's Eve. The family, Bowser, Clawdia, Ludwig, Lemmy, Roy, Iggy, Wendy, Morton and Larry, were huddled together by the TV. Ten seconds until the New Year.

"Ten!" Bowser counted.

"Nine!" Clawdia shouted.

"Eight!" Ludwig cried.

"Seven!" Lemmy shrieked.

"Six!" Iggy barked.

"Five!" Wendy screeched.

"Four!" Morton woofed.

"Three!" Larry boomed.

"Two!" Roy yelled.

"ONE!" they all chorused…

"Roy! Roy! Wake up!" Ludwig shouted while shaking Roy over and over. Roy's eyes blurred for a minute, until they snapped back into reality. He sat up.

"The egg is hatching!" Ludwig screamed while pointing at the oval-shaped chrysalis. Tiny cracks were getting bigger, and it was almost completely hatched by now.

Roy's eyes went wide.

Finally, the tiny pieces of shell broke away from the egg. The egg part broke away completely from what was inside it. A tiny, newborn creature popped up from the egg.

"Unbelievable," Ludwig murmured.

* * *

Snicker, snicker: Cliffhanger!

Sorry for the somewhat-shortness. It's only 1,100 words, but you can live with that, right?

Chapter Eleven, the chapter that reveals everything, will be up soon!


End file.
